Pillsbury Bake-Off announces changes to rules

CaptionNo. 100: Woman's Industrial Kitchen

Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun photo

Reviving the historic lunchroom at the Woman's Industrial Exchange sounded like the kind of impossible task issued to heroines in fairy tales, like picking lentils out of the ashes. But Irene Smith, who gained an ardent local following with her Souper Freak food truck, has pulled off a happy ending. The tomato aspic and chicken salad are back. • Restaurant info.: Woman's Industrial Kitchen, 333 N. Charles St., Woman's Industrial Exchange, downtown, 410-244-6450, www.womansindustrialkitchen.com

Reviving the historic lunchroom at the Woman's Industrial Exchange sounded like the kind of impossible task issued to heroines in fairy tales, like picking lentils out of the ashes. But Irene Smith, who gained an ardent local following with her Souper Freak food truck, has pulled off a happy ending. The tomato aspic and chicken salad are back. • Restaurant info.: Woman's Industrial Kitchen, 333 N. Charles St., Woman's Industrial Exchange, downtown, 410-244-6450, www.womansindustrialkitchen.com (Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun photo)

The main attraction at this Greektown favorite is the charcoal-flame rotisserie, which turns out tender and tasty, simply seasoned lamb chops, marinated pork, chicken and fish. Its full name, Zorba's Bar and Grill, suggests the casual atmosphere, which is not so much a full-service restaurant as a neighborhood bar that happens to serve amazing food. • Restaurant info.: Zorba's Bar & Grill, 4710 Eastern Ave., Greektown, 410-276-4484

The main attraction at this Greektown favorite is the charcoal-flame rotisserie, which turns out tender and tasty, simply seasoned lamb chops, marinated pork, chicken and fish. Its full name, Zorba's Bar and Grill, suggests the casual atmosphere, which is not so much a full-service restaurant as a neighborhood bar that happens to serve amazing food. • Restaurant info.: Zorba's Bar & Grill, 4710 Eastern Ave., Greektown, 410-276-4484 (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun photo)

Did you see where Monopoly is introducing two new tokens and getting rid of one of the classic tokens? The wheelbarrow and the iron are in danger. I'm still getting over Crayola dumping eight of its crayons. That was back in 1990. Officially, they were retired to Crayola Hall of Fame in Easton, Penn.

The Pillsbury Bake-Off is changing things up, too. The 100 finalists will now be determined by the voting public, or people enrolled on Pillsbury's website.

The Bake-Off now features three recipe categories - Amazing Doable Dinners, Simple Sweets and Starters, and Quick Rise and Shine Breakfasts - with separate entry periods. The entry period for Amazing Doable Dinners started Jan. 3 and continues through Feb. 7. You can enter all three categories if you like.

But there's something else.

To encourage simpler, original recipes, submissions must include no more than seven ingredients, not including table salt, ground black pepper and water, and take 30 minutes or less to prepare, not including baking or cooling time.

I guess the U.S. Constitution is just a big joke.

Actually, I don't care about the new Pillsbury Bake-Off rules. And no one plays Monopoly the right anyway. (You get NOTHING for Free Parking.)

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county...

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